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D Christophe

Publications and source records attributed to D Christophe.

59 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Molecular cloning of the 8000-base thyroglobulin structural gene.

Bovine thyroglobulin mRNA was reverse-transcribed into full-length double-stranded cDNA. The existence of three HindIII restriction endonuclease sites in the 8000-base thyroglobulin structural gene had allowed the easy cloning of the two internal HindIII fragments [Christophe et al. (1980) Eur. J. Biochem. 111, 419-423]. In the present study, the central portion of the structural gene was cloned in Escherichia coli as two individual recombinant plasmids containing 2000-base-pair and 4700-base-pair segments located respectively 5' and 3' relative to the unique BamHI site of the cDNA. BamHI linkers were added to the double-stranded cDNA and, following restriction with HindIII, selective cloning of the 5' (2600-base-pair) and 3' (1000-base-pair) terminal HindIII fragments was achieved by inserting them between the HindIII and BamHI sites of the plasmid pBR322. Partial sequencing of the 1000-base-pair 3'-terminal fragment demonstrated the presence of an A-A-U-A-A-A sequence in the mRNA 14 bases upstream from a poly(A) tract corresponding to the 3' end of the mRNA. Together, the four clones represent about 99% of the thyroglobulin structural gene and provide the starting material for the determination of thyroglobulin primary structure.

Animals↗

Molecular cloning of bovine thyroglobulin complementary DNA. Characterization of 2500-base-pair and 1900-base-pair fragments.

Double-stranded thyroglobulin complementary DNA (cDNA) was synthesized from purified 33-S bovine thyroglobulin mRNA. This synthetic structural gene has previously been shown to contain three sites for the restriction endonuclease HindIII, yielding two internal fragments of 1900 and 2500 base pairs respectively. Recombinant molecules were prepared by ligating the HindIII-restricted cDNA to the plasmid pBR322 which had been linearized by the same enzyme. When Escherichia coli was transformed with this mixture, it yielded two kinds of colonies each harboring recombinant plasmids containing one of the two cDNA fragments. Both recombinant molecules hybridized specifically to translatable thyroglobulin mRNA. Sequence homology between the two cloned DNAs could not be detected by cross-hybridization experiments; this argues against the existence of internal structural repetition in thyroglobulin subunits. Together, the two cloned DNA fragments represent 55% of the 8000-base-pair double-stranded thyroglobulin DNA.

Animals↗

[Structure and expression of thyroglobulin gene].

Thyroglobulin is composed of two 300000 dalton polypeptide chains, translated from an 8000 base mRNA. Preparation of a full length cDNA and its cloning in E. coli have lead to the demonstration that the polypeptides of thyroglobulin protomers were identical. Used as molecular probes, the cloned cDNA allowed the isolation of a fragment of thyroglobulin gene. Electron microscopic studies have demonstrated that this gene contains more than 90% intronic material separating small size exons (less than 200 bp). Sequencing of bovine thyroglobulin structural gene is in progress. Preliminary results show evidence for the existence of repetitive segments. Availability of cloned DNA complementary to bovine and human thyroglobulin mRNA allows the study of genetic defects of thyroglobulin gene expression in the human and in various animal models.

Animals↗